Review of Captain America: Civil War (2016) by Aron A — 01 Mar 2017

This review contains spoilers.

Political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability when the actions of the Avengers lead to collateral damage. The new status quo deeply divides members of the team. Captain America (Chris Evans) believes superheroes should remain free to defend humanity without government interference. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) sharply disagrees and supports oversight. As the debate escalates into an all-out feud, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) must pick a side.

Since 2008, Disney have changed the face of the superhero movie with their triumphant Marvel Cinematic Universe. The superhero genre (yes, it's its own genre now) has produced some terrific films. Many people believe X-Men (2000) started the modern era of superhero movie craze, and while I do agree, I think it was Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002) that gave it the boost it needed, and the one it deserved. These were real characters with real depth! The 2004 sequel was even better, building upon the story that the original started. We got a better insight into who these characters were and what made them so special. It's the real beauty of a sequel. They allow you to explore so many different aspects of a character. It's why TV shows are the go-to place for excellent character development. We get to know them for years and it helps us sympathise with them. The MCU feels much like a TV show. Each phase is a season and each season ends with a finale: Avengers/Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Captain America: Civil War adapts Mark Millar's popular comic book that saw the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and much of the Marvel Universe collide. The comic was filled with deaths, betrayals and fantastic monologues that furthered the dark side of the Marvel Universe that we had previously seen in stories like House of M.

Unlike the comic, the movie feels much smaller and more personal to Captain America. Sure, you can call this Avengers 2.5 but it still feels like what is is as heart; a Captain America movie. Captain America: Civil War is packed with some incredible fight scenes and an engaging plot which differs dramatically from the source material it's adapting. We have spent numerous movies with these characters and to see the compromises they make in this film is what makes it stand out.

While the Avengers are on a mission, their carelessness leads to the deaths of innocent civilians and political pressure begins to squeeze them into choosing a side; Save the day with absolute freedom or fight by order of bureaucrats. While previous MCU films are all about fun, adventure and heroism, Civil War brings the universe into a real world with real consequences. If the events that took place in both Avengers movies were real life, there would be hundreds of innocent lives lost and this would be something that is immediately brought up, yet we don't hear about that grim side of it until this movie. The characters and the audience are both being smacked in the face with consequence. It's what Watchmen (2009) and The Incredibles (2004) do so damn well. However, the film isn't necessarily a downer. Unlike Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the film still has plenty of the humour and fun that the MCU has come to be so widely known for (not that that's a fault of BvS). So there's a mixture of seriousness and jokiness, and I don't think that works too well.

Until the final few scenes, I never felt any real tension. The first act is full of reasons why the Avengers is a controversial branch of the once mighty S.H.I.E.L.D and so we understand that something big has to happen, and once the Avengers take sides, we expect brutal, death-filled warfare. After all, the movie has 'war' in the title. However, the second act contains an action scene that felt as though it was out of a completely different MCU film. One with a lighter tone; where there were no real worries and it was all about fun. They have come here to fight and if needs be, kill each other in order to make a stand and have their way in an incredibly important and serious issue. So what do they do? Why, they tell jokes of course! They're not supposed to be having fun. They should be terrified about the outcome of the fight but it's not even clear if they want to kill each other or not. Of course, like every MCU movie, there are no major characters who die (and stay dead). This takes away the impact and any tension the 'airport' scene could have had had there been one or even two characters die. The airport scene is one that was made to entertain, rather than propel the story.

In comparison, the final confrontation between Rogers, Bucky and Stark is brilliant. This fight has raw emotion. It's brutal! Where the airport sequence focused on spectacle and great big set pieces, this fight has a much smaller scale, yet the stakes are so much greater. There has never been a fight in the MCU like the fight at the end of Civil War and I'm not sure we'll ever get one like it again.

My favourite thing about this movie is the philosophy that weaves the story and separates the characters. The Dark Knight sees Batman and the Joker fight a battle of wits; Daredevil Season 2 sees Daredevil and the Punisher collide in both verbal and physical battle; Batman v Superman takes Batman's anger and plots it against Superman's naivety; Captain America: Civil War has the patriotism of Captain America go up against the compromising and regretful Iron Man. The writers, Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus, do an excellent job of giving reasoning and understanding as to why there is conflict and why the two lead characters take different sides, but the minor characters don't seem to get enough screen time or dialogue. They pretty much decide their team in a few lines or less. It doesn't feel like the characters made the decisions themselves, but the writers. Along with the good writing for the lead characters, both Robert Downey Junior and Captain America give their best performances of the MCU thus far. As far as newcomers go, Black Panther and Spider-Man had great on-screen presence. Chadwick Boseman gives a fine performance and his character has a touching and inspired arc. Tom Holland brings a Spider-Man that we've never really seen before. He is very much like the Spider-Man from the Ultimate universe, in that he looks a lot younger and doesn't shut up. Although a little shoehorned in, he works really well throughout his sequences and it was a great advert for Spider-Man: Homecoming.

The film almost feels like one producer wanted them to go dark with this and another wanted them to stick to the usual MCU feel. When War Machine is blown out the sky and free falls into the ground, he should be dead. No question. But it's the MCU and so he is more or less fine. He's walking again not soon after. It's this sort of thing that makes me a little sick of the MCU. It almost feels like schlock. Same formula, same result. I have to say, I enjoyed this movie, but not nearly as much as I wanted to.

It's uncommon for superhero movies to directly adapt a single story from the comics. They rarely even use the name of the comic they are inspired by or are are adapting. On the contrary, Captain America: Civil War uses the name of the comic and, I suppose, would call itself an adaptation, but it greatly differs from the overall story and tone of the comic. Had they faithfully adapted the comic, I think it would have felt out of place for many people. If many characters were killed off in this film and if it was handled really well, I would have loved that, but I'm not sure the general audience would have been too keen. The MCU took the ultimate risk in bringing all of these characters together but from there, there hasn't been much to greatly admire about the MCU like there once was.

Score: 3/5.